Salman lauds young guns for playing brilliant cricket

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s T20 captain on the Zimbabwe tour Salman Ali Agha Thursday praised youngsters for coming up good in the series despite losing the last one.

“The series was played under experimental purposes and I am glad the young guns played brilliant cricket throughout the series. Some of them have a bright future ahead of them.” Salman, however, was unhappy with the total in the last T20 that Pakistan lost by two wickets.

“The total was not enough, yet youngsters took it down to the penultimate ball, showing their fighting ability in the process. We should have scored twenty to thirty more runs to pose a decent challenge for the Zimbabwe team.”

The stand-in captain praised the likes of Player of the Series Sufiyan Muqeem and Saim Ayub as the players to watch. “Sufiyan was exceptional with the ball as he troubled all and was outstanding with the economy. He has a great future and so has Saim.”

On his performance, Salman said that he has contributed with bat and ball. “I am satisfied with my performance as I have contributed with both bat and ball to help the team cause.” He was excited to win the series. “Winning the series was all the more important. In the last match, we used all our reserves.”

Salman hoped to carry good work from the Zimbabwe tour to South Africa where more seniors will join the team. “We will be at our best in the series against South Africa where some seniors will also join the team. We hope to make the tour count.”

Zimbabwe team captain Sikandar Raza was excited at finally winning a match ahead of the series against Afghanistan. “We came too close in previous matches but managed to cross it finally. Winning against a powerful team always gives you extra pleasure. I am really proud of some youngsters who did well and helped in winning the last T20.”

Raza hoped to make Zimbabwe a formidable team capable of qualifying for the next T20 World Cup. “That is our main focus. To prepare a better outfit for the coming important events including the World Cup.”